Following on from season 1 of Damien we see our reluctant 'destroyer' running from his destiny with Simone at his side keeping him tethered to reality and helping him believe he is good and can remain Damien Thorn resisting the call of the antichrist. Allies are sought and enemies revealed. Opposing forces will come together both trying to influence the course of Damien's life to their own ends. Trust is in short supply and nowhere is safe…maybe it will take a miracle to save the son of Satan. Amani acts as his champion and vets those that would join his campaign…his judgement is absolute on such matters as he has proved himself instrumental in the success of Damien's fight.
Damien stood in the cemetery, blood trickling through his hair, down his face and on to his body. He had just given himself over to his father, offering his soul and his submission to save Simone. He had witnessed her resurrection but was still stunned by the events that had unfolded before him. His body was slashed and gouged, his scalp had been partially cut away from his skull and yet despite all of this he was still functioning. He wondered how long it would be before his body yielded to its wounds…how long could he keep fighting?
Crowds of people descended on their position and he could feel the end creeping ever closer. When they bowed before him he was more confused than ever. What was going on? Was this even real? Could it be another dream? If so he begged God to wake him…please let it be a dream.
How could he tell he wondered…when his dreaming state feels exactly like his waking state. He thought to himself that he really had gone crazy and antichrist or not he was trapped in hell.
He held Simone close, supporting the majority of her body weight to stop her from falling. She was understandably disoriented and appeared traumatised, vacant even, as though her body had revived but her mind had not caught up yet.
"Simone? Are you there?" he spoke softly trying to hide his fear as much as was possible from those that had hunted him down and those that were now influenced by the events of the night. "Simone…"
She murmured and slurred some incoherent words but was clearly trying to respond. "It's Ok… you're gonna be Ok, I promise." But Damien had no idea what to do next. He looked around him and could see only masses of people and those from Armitage…he scanned the place looking for a miracle of all things…and then he saw detective Shay…on his knees but not in adoration…he was despondent and about to give up his own fight…this was an opportunity. He grabbed hold of Simone and rushed towards the detective. Once he saw some sign of recognition in the detectives face he shouted "Help us! Help us!" it took a few seconds for Shay to appreciate what was actually unfolding and he had no idea what to make of it but it was far easier for his brain to accept two people, bloody and battered running from an enemy and in need of protection than what he had actually just witnessed and so he chose to believe the former and got to his feet, gun raised and ready.
As they passed him he said "my car's just over there, I'll cover you…GO!"
Damien didn't hesitate and scrambled to the car, throwing Simone inside and taking off. As he made their escape he could hear distant gun shots…four he thinks and then silence. He glanced over at Simone, she was still out of it but he wished she wasn't because she had become a tether of sorts for him, a voice of reason and truth in a chaotic vortex of deceit. He needed her to keep him on the right side of sanity for without her trust and faith he feared everything that might come to pass.
He drove as far and as fast as he could in the shortest time possible. He knew the detective's car would have a tracker and they would be found so he needed to ditch the car.
He drove further away from the city towards the countryside where there would be minimal people and lots of places to hide, however with nothing but the clothes on their backs their chances of making it were virtually nil.
"What happened to me? Why do I feel…? … different"
"Simone? Oh thank God"
"You're thanking God now? I thought you didn't believe?"
"I thought so too"
Damien pulled the car over and searched it for anything useful. He took the first aid box from under the seat and the emergency pack from the trunk. "This guy (Shay) really was a 'be prepared for anything' kind a guy" he mumbled to himself. Detective Shay had always kept a bag in the car in case of bad weather or any other type of emergency situation that might mean his family would need survival equipment with no time to prepare. Damien thought finding this was almost Shay's way of saying he was sorry for the persecution he had brought and for killing Simone but of course he knew it was not but was extremely thankful to have it nonetheless. He grabbed the bag and a backpack, put the first aid kit inside and together he and Simone made their way towards Adirondack forest Preserve.
Shortly after they had set off on foot Simone asked about Amani. "He's dead" replied Damien "John killed him"
"So says Ann, she's been manipulating you, manoeuvring you and … just playing you from the time you met her, how can you trust anything she says?"
"I could see in it John's face…he ran…he did it"
"I think we should find out for ourselves…what if he's in trouble? What if he's not dead and he needs us? He's your best friend Damien."
Damien stopped walking and looked at Simone…an intense stare that showed how much he wanted Amani to be alive. "Where would we even start Simone? Look at us, we have nothing, I don't know where we're going or who we can get to help us but I do know we need to put more distance between us and them…so let's keep moving." Damien went to move off again but Simone took his arm and stopped him. "We don't have nothing, we have each other and I'll watch out for you if you watch out for me…Ok?" Damien silently nodded and they continued on their journey.
…
Back at the site of the nuns' executions where Amani and sister Fraueva were thrown into the open grave wounded, dying and eventually buried alive, a disturbed site was now displayed. Dirt was tossed this way and that, a depression was visible in the centre of the grave and everything indicated that a disruption of some sort had occurred post burial.
When the monsignors arrived in New York they headed straight for the last place they knew sister Fraueva to be. When they could find no trace of her inside they headed in to the grounds where they discovered the grave. In order to learn what had happened and to expose the fate of their brethren they each took up shovels and emptied the grave of sod. The earth was loose and easy to dig through; it didn't take long before they had revealed their first body and before long they had found the four missing nuns. They carefully laid out their bodies on the ground and called for other members of the church to come and remove the remains. Sister Fraueva was unaccounted for and so they mounted a search of the immediate vicinity.
…
After walking for several hours Damien decided the small clearing they encountered would be a good place to stop for a while. They had been extra careful about leaving a trail and felt relatively safe here, at least to stop long enough for a rest and something to drink.
"There's a couple of freeze dried meal packs in here and some water" Damien said as he emptied out the pack. "Are there any matches…for a fire?" "There's some kind of flint thing if you know how to use it and some glow sticks…ah here, weatherproof matches."
"How are your feet? And your other wounds? How is your head?"
"I hurt all over…I daren't take my shoes off and my head is splitting"
"Why didn't you say something…let me check the first aid kit"
"I think pain is good right now…it reminds me I'm human. I am human aren't I Simone?"
Simone approached Damien with the first aid box, she laid down a blanket from the emergency bag and took Damien's hand to pull him forwards and down to join her there. "Of course you're human…and I will keep reminding you of it so you don't need the pain." As she gently removed Damien's shoes to expose his wounds she softly said "I need to ask you about what happened to me" Damien seemed reluctant to talk about it for fear that she would become afraid of him, plus he wasn't really sure what had happened. Could he believe his eyes or was he deceived because to believe what he believed was to accept that he brought Simone back from the dead by negotiating with the devil and sacrificing his soul. To a sane man that would be totally absurd but it did happen and as of yet Damien did not know the true repercussions of the choice he made.
"Simone…I…I'm not sure what happ" Damien was cut off by Simone mid word "I think I died", she looked at him with terror in her eyes and repeated "I think I died Damien…and then I was here again."
"What do you remember?"
"I saw Shay, he was pointing a gun at us and he called your name…then nothing…then I was somewhere else I think, it felt strange like I was floating but I wasn't floating, it was so quiet there and peaceful and although it was so strange to me and unfamiliar it felt safe and I was at ease. Suddenly, I could hear someone shouting, screaming at their father…I remember the feeling of sadness and then I was suddenly waking up on the ground …and that felt really strange…that didn't feel safe or natural at first but… then I quickly found familiarity with my surroundings again and it was ok."
As she cleaned the deepest wounds of his feet again he grimaced with pain…"save the water" he said "there isn't enough to last more than a couple of days in the pack as it is"
"I'm not using much but these cuts must be cleaned. When I'm done with these I'll have a look at your side and then your head"
Once she was finished dressing the cuts he got to his feet and turning away from her for a moment said "It was me you heard shouting…I gave my spirit… my soul and all that I am to my father in exchange for your life. Detective Shay tried to kill me but he hit you instead…your blood sprayed across my face as your life left you and you fell…we fell together" after a long pause in which Simone processed what he had said she uttered…
"What?...Why? Why would you do such a thing?"
"I couldn't be without you…I couldn't lose you too"
"What does that mean?... Damien? What does that mean?"
"It means I'm the antichrist… I'm evil and death follows wherever I go"
Simone moved close to Damien and took his hand, "YOU are NOT evil, and you have fought this every step of the way, you have struggled with everything to do with this notion of your destiny, you abhor the death of innocents and the actions of evil men, you went to sister Fraueva for help…to stop it…you didn't want anything to do with this. Do those sound like the actions of the antichrist?"
A tear escaped Damien's eye and releasing a breath that revealed how tightly he was trying to hold on to his emotions he gripped her hand tightly.
"But I…I gave myself to my father and you were healed…all those people came, they bowed down before me." he said
"That doesn't mean you're evil…that just means you're very special…something is obviously happening here but trust me…you are most certainly NOT evil and you must believe it"
"I want to believe it…I do…but …everything that's happened…" he shook his head as he walked away. Finding a spot that looked promising as a semi shelter he dropped to the ground, his mind in turmoil and his body sore. Simone was right there behind him dragging the supplies closer so that she could tend to his other wounds.
"Take off your top and lay back…I'm going to help you Damien, then we can get some rest and sort out what's going on after that"
For several hours they lay together, one comforted by the proximity of the other. Those hours were the time in which the bond between these two was cemented and whether a deal had been struck with Satan or not, Simone would be a constant in Damien's life that would guide him and remind him of his ability to choose. This may just be the one thing that Ann, Armitage and 'the movement of darkness' had not accounted or prepared for.
As they prepared to move on and find somewhere a little more permanent to hide, Simone sensed that Damien needed a different perspective to think about and so she turned to him and said…"Damien…let's assume for a moment that you are the son of the devil. All that would mean is that you are the son of the devil…Satan…Beelzebub, Lucifer or whatever other name he is known by, but as you were born to a mortal you would also be human. Being the son of something evil wouldn't make you evil…that's a choice like everything else. You could still be you…in spite of your parentage."
Damien considered this and its possible implications "There are prophecies about the son of Satan that can't be ignored…He is said to bring about the apocalypse…the end of days. I think for that to happen he would have to be evil and do some very bad things…there doesn't seem to be much choice in that"
"There are many things written in the bible Damien…some of them seem to be very clear in their meaning and others have been interpreted in a number of ways. It often speaks of a deceiver and of false prophets…perhaps you have been or are being deceived now. The antichrist could also come to mean a group and not an individual. The name itself implies something that is 'against' God or that is 'in place of' God, you haven't been either of those things and have expressed no desire to be. Superstition and a lack of understanding of the natural world and all of the power contained within it lends itself to legends and myths and of an angry god…deceivers and evil people take advantage of such things and seize opportunity to manipulate and push their own agenda claiming it to be divinely prophesised or the will of God …"
"But things have happened Simone that are beyond what a person could do…beyond explanation…beyond what I can explain."
"I know…and I believe you are special, who your earthly father is I cannot say, except to say that ultimately we are all the children of our lord God and as such HE is your father." She smiled at him because she saw this simple awareness had offered him hope and if nothing else was at least giving him something to think about.
Despite this Damien still feared he was evil, Simone insisted once again he was not. He reminded her that Lucifer at one time was an angel and so must have been good but still fell and became the evil we know today. Simone reminded him that to be cast out of heaven his sin was great. He wouldn't accept his father's creation and love for man. He declared that if all angels were allowed to decide for themselves about humans they would agree with him and so God granted the angels who wished it the ability to weigh what they believed to be true with what they believed to be right and he agreed to allow them to be swayed by argument and by love. However, this was on the condition that they all accepted the consequences of any and all decisions that they made. This was unprecedented of course and Lucifer saw an opportunity without perhaps fully appreciating what the consequences would be. Either way, what followed was a war in the heavens and Lucifer and his followers being expelled from heaven. Once on earth, they became different from the angels they were in heaven and it was their fall that ultimately damned them.
"Each of the angels that lost their place in heaven did so through a choice they made…their choices led them on a dark path but you can keep choosing good Damien"
"I can feel it inside me Simone, growing…I don't always have control…since my birthday and that old woman in Syria …things changed…she's following me, she has ALWAYS followed me"
"Damien…What if…she is the evil presence, the force that has caused all the bad things in your life to happen. You said she has always been there, whenever something happened…even if you did it, she was always there. She is the only constant other than yourself…it must be her…somehow she or it is using you…how special you are to boost or amplify its own evil. Think about it…not often but throughout history there have been people…very special people that have been born and that have had a unique or powerful gift that others simply couldn't explain. They noted them as saints or geniuses or as a scholar years ahead of their time. They became inventors or leaders or teachers. What if these people were like you in some way?"
"None of those people were called the antichrist…or pursued by some evil entity or believed to be the destroyer"
"No they weren't but then maybe Armitage somehow knew ahead of time that you were coming, maybe you were indeed prophesised…but not as what they are having you believe."
"So…it might not be me?" "It's not you…it's them"
